Spiritual and Religious Resources in African American Women

Abstract

Many women experience depressive symptoms after childbirth, and rates among African Americans are as high as 40%. Spirituality and religiosity are valued in African American communities, but their relevance to new mothers has not been empirically tested. We examined effects of religiosity and spirituality on trajectories of depressive symptoms during the year after childbirth. Data were collected by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Community Child Health Network, which focuses on maternal-child health disparities. The sample consisted of 702 low-socioeconomic-status African American predominantly Christian women. Participants were interviewed in their homes throughout the year after a birth. Spirituality and religiosity each independently predicted changes in depressive symptoms, and low levels predicted increases over time. Effects of religiosity were mediated by a woman’s spirituality. Religiosity and spirituality functioned as significant, interrelated protective factors in this study, which provides novel insight about lower-income African American women after childbirth.